


it's harder to walk on your own (i'll walk with you)

by peachabalism



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Angst, M/M, Sickfic, certainly not fluff, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2018-09-06
Packaged: 2019-07-07 15:30:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15911097
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachabalism/pseuds/peachabalism
Summary: Daniel's sick, and Seongwoo comes to a realisation.Written for a cc prompt from the ongnielsos cc, in celebration of S.O.S' anniversary.





	it's harder to walk on your own (i'll walk with you)

It started off with a headache - a small one that didn't fade away when the van came to a stop like how Daniel had expected it to. Daniel didn't usually get motion sickness, but it wasn't the first time he had gotten it either so he had just spent the trip in silence, with his head resting on Seongwoo's shoulder and his eyes closed as he tried to block out the chatter. 

When the headache persisted even after the van had rolled to a stop, Daniel had chalked it up to dehydration. So, he made sure to drink lots of water, gulping it down whenever they had a small break in between the dance practices. He also noticed how he seemed to be sweating a lot more than he usually did, but he blamed that on the weather instead and just wiped the perspiration away before continuing to perfect the choreography assigned.

Usually, Daniel managed to get down moves that were considered hard and tricky easily but, for some reason, he found himself lagging behind the others on that particular day. There was one supposedly “easy” part in the chorus which he kept stumbling over no matter how many times they went over it, and it was starting to get on Daniel's nerves. It didn't help that the other members were also getting tired of having to repeat the same part over and over just because of his mistake.

After the nth time of having to repeat the chorus, Jisung called for another break and the members groaned out in relief. Jaehwan collapsed to the floor in an exaggerated motion, clearly not as tired as he made himself out to be if he still had the energy to joke around, and began to bemoan how tired he was and how his muscles ached.

Daniel retired to a corner by himself, bringing along his water bottle and towel. He finished the remaining water in the bottle and began toweling his sweat off. For some reason, he felt cold even though he was sweating so much. Had night fallen already? What else could have been the explanation for the sudden temperature drop?

The pounding in his head was still there and it was only getting more persistent. It was as if there was a monster inside of his skull that was coming to the realisation that playing nicely wouldn't get it out of its prison. And, yeah, maybe Daniel was starting to go a little crazy if he was now envisioning monsters in his head.

It was just-

"Hey, you okay?"

Daniel looked up, startled, only to find Seongwoo towering over him with that pretty smile of his, his own water bottle in hand. Before Daniel could answer, Seongwoo sat down next to him, giving an exaggerated sigh of relief as he did so.

"Yeah, just feeling a bit tired." Daniel brushed it off, even though it was clearly more than just that that was bothering him. Still, he figured maybe he was just being overly sensitive. Everyone else was probably going through the same thing, and no one else was complaining so why should he?

"You sure?" Seongwoo didn't seem convinced. "You're looking a lot more than just 'a bit' tired."

If it was anyone else, Daniel would have just waved them off again. But it was Seongwoo, who had come to know so much more of Daniel than anyone else despite the short time they had known each other (a thought that scared Daniel at times), so Daniel decided to just indulge himself a little.

"Well... I've had a headache for a while now and I don't think it's going to go away anytime soon..." Daniel admitted after a bit of hesitation. "And, well, isn't it a bit cold in here? Even though we're sweating?"

Seongwoo furrowed his eyebrows in worry. "Cold? Daniel, do you have a fever?" He lifted the back of his hand to press it against Daniel's forehead and Daniel tried to ignore the flutter of his heart. "That's odd. Your body temperature feels normal. Still, you should at least get some medication for your headache if you've had it for this long."

Seongwoo got to his feet and offered Daniel a hand. Daniel took it and pulled himself up, stumbling and almost tripping over his feet as he did so. God, he was just a walking disaster, wasn't he?

"S-sorry!" he stammered out as Seongwoo steadied him. His heart was starting to race faster and he wondered if Seongwoo could feel the thumping of his heart against his chest. He sure hoped he couldn't.

Once Seongwoo was sure that Daniel wouldn't collapse, he took Daniel's hand and led him across the room to where they had left their bags. It was then that Daniel realised his cheeks were warm and he hoped that Seongwoo wouldn't turn and see that he was blushing.

Seongwoo had to let go of Daniel's hand to search through his bag, but Daniel still couldn't help the brief flash of disappointment he felt when Seongwoo did so. There was silence as Seongwoo unzipped the pockets of his bag until he finally emerged triumphant with some painkillers.

“Will two be enough?” Seongwoo asked. Daniel nodded.

"Here you go." Seongwoo beamed at Daniel as he placed a painkiller onto Daniel's palm.

"Um, my water finished-" Before Daniel could finish his sentence, Seongwoo had already handed him a water bottle from his bag.

"Thank you, hyung." Daniel smiled weakly, suddenly overwhelmed by an urge to cry. He managed to maintain his composure, though silently berating himself as he did so, and swallowed the pill with the help of a mouthful of water.

"No problem. You know you can tell me if anything is wrong, right?" Coming from anyone else, Daniel would have dismissed the words immediately. He didn't really like to rely on anyone and he preferred to do things himself.

However, when it came to Seongwoo, Daniel found that he actually didn't mind telling Seongwoo about things he normally wouldn't tell anyone else. The only reason why he held himself back from doing so frequently was because he was scared that he was bothering or burdening Seongwoo.

Still, Daniel nodded in response to Seongwoo's question. Before either of them could say anything else, Jisung was clapping his hands and calling them back to start practicing again.

And so, Daniel started going through the choreography again. This time, it only took around 5 tries before he managed to execute the one move he had been struggling with and he had to bite back the grin that formed on his lips after he had done so.

They stopped after the chorus finished. Jisung clapped Daniel on the back with a loud "Good job!" and the other members all whooped and clapped, causing Daniel to hide his face in his hands.

He felt someone loop an arm over his shoulders and he knew before he looked up that it was Seongwoo, having felt the familiar weight and body press up against him countless times before. Seongwoo was grinning at him happily, as if it were him that had finally gotten the choreography right instead of Daniel.

"Good job, Niel-ah," Seongwoo said to him, his eyes crinkling into half-moon crescents. Daniel felt his heart skip a beat or two.

"Thanks, hyung," he managed out, a sincere smile playing on his lips even as Jisung called everyone back because they had to continue learning the rest of the dance now that they were done with the chorus.

Daniel was in a good mood for the rest of practice, even though his muscles ached and he felt like he was going to collapse at any given moment (thankfully, that didn't happen). He was incredibly grateful when Jisung finally decided that it was time for dinner, which was either going to be Chinese food or chicken.

Strangely enough, Daniel wasn't hungry. In fact, just the thought of food made him feel like throwing up. This worried him less than it probably should have; to Daniel, he just wasn't hungry - simple as that.

Seongwoo didn't feel the same way.

The other members had each been rallying for their choice of food and had settled on going with what the majority wanted. By the end of it, out of the 10 votes, they were equally split between Chinese food and chicken. Daniel's vote would be the tie-breaker.

"Yah, Kang Daniel." Daniel, who had previously been zoning out, lifted his head wearily to look at Jisung. "What's your pick?"

"Me? Uh, I actually don't really feel like eating..." Daniel reached up to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly.

"What do you mean you don't feel like eating? Are you okay?" Jisung asked, slightly concerned.

"I'm fine, just... I really don't feel like eating so..." Daniel trailed off, hoping Jisung would get the message and drop it. Jisung narrowed his eyes but he didn’t press any further, deciding that both Chinese food and chicken teams would send a representative to play rock-paper-scissors.

Daniel had hoped that he would escape any further questioning but, oddly, he felt a heavy gaze on him. He peeked up towards the direction it was coming from and his eyes landed on an unusually serious Seongwoo. Daniel smiled uncertainly at him and gave a tiny wave, fingers curling back into his palm and hand dropping down when Seongwoo didn’t so much as acknowledge it. He just continued staring at Daniel; it was honestly starting to unnerve him a bit.

To escape Seongwoo’s scrutiny, Daniel decided to get up and head to the toilet. He got to his feet clumsily and, apparently, faster than he should have, because he was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell and a painful throbbing in his head. Daniel groaned, one of his hands going up to nurse his temple.

“Hyung, are you okay?” Daehwi asked, having been the one closest to Daniel when he had gotten up.

“‘m fine.” Daniel mustered a somewhat convincing smile. “Just got up a bit too fast.”

“Please be more careful, hyung,” Daehwi chided gently, masking his concern behind a smile.

“I will, I will,” Daniel reassured him before resuming what he had been in the process of doing.

The bathroom on this floor was located a little ways further down from the dance studio they had been occupying. After Daniel was done, he moved over to a sink to wash his hands. As he was doing so, he felt another throb echo in his head. He was caught by surprise at how painful it was that he let slip a guttural groan.

“Your headache is back?”

Daniel turned around so suddenly that he almost got whiplash and the world around him tilted for a moment as he grabbed onto the sink to steady himself. The pounding in his head had returned and, all of a sudden, the bathroom light was too bright and it was hurting his eyes. So, he squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his wrist to his temple, as if that would somehow alleviate the pain.

Then, there was someone- Seongwoo. Seongwoo had crossed the distance over to Daniel and had wrapped his arms gently around him. One of his hands came up to press the back of his palm against Daniel’s forehead again. For some reason, Seongwoo’s hands were cold to the touch. Daniel’s eyes fluttered open, though his vision was a bit blurry.

“Daniel, you’re burning up.” Seongwoo pressed his hand to Daniel’s neck after that, and Daniel shivered slightly from the touch.

“Does your head hurt a lot?” Daniel couldn’t bring himself to answer because another wave of pain had crashed into him when he had tried to do so. He managed a tiny nod, though, and that was the only answer Seongwoo needed.

“Can you walk? I can’t fully carry you but I can support you.” Seongwoo gently guided Daniel’s arm over Seongwoo’s own shoulders and leaned part of Daniel’s weight onto himself. “Let’s get you back to the studio first. Then, manager hyung can send you back to the dorm and-“

“No,” Daniel managed to rasp out, halting Seongwoo’s movements and rambling. “Hyung, I can’t.”

Seongwoo furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. “What do you mean you can’t? You’re sick!”

“I can still dance!” Daniel said, closing his eyes again as his head throbbed again. “Just... I just need some more painkillers.”

“Yeah, you need painkillers _and_ rest, Daniel.” Seongwoo’s words were stern as he readjusted Daniel’s weight on him and began to guide Daniel out of the bathroom.

Daniel was about to open his mouth to rebuke that claim but that was also when a particularly large wave of pain had washed over him and all he was able to utter was a pitiful whimper.

Seongwoo somehow managed to drag Daniel along back to the dance studio, though of course the younger let out a few weak protests, none of which deterred Seongwoo from his decision nor the carrying out of it.

The door to the dance studio wasn’t shut properly and Seongwoo nudged it open with his right foot, stepping in with Daniel in tow. Jisung and a few of the other members looked up at the sound of his entrance and their eyes widened in surprise at Daniel’s slumped form.

“What happened?” Jisung had immediately gotten to his feet and walked over to them.

“He has a high fever,” Seongwoo said as he guided Daniel so he was sitting down with his back leaned on the wall and Seongwoo himself was kneeling on the floor next to him. “And he’s had a headache for more than a few hours now.”

Jisung looked even more worried now, if that was possible. He knelt down as well and checked Daniel’s temperature, taking in how the usually loud and happy puppy was now reduced to a quiet, slumped form.

“I’ll call our manager to drive him back,” Jisung decided, getting back up to his feet. He fished out his phone from his pocket and turned away from them, selecting their manager’s number and holding it to his ear.

The other members had edged their way quietly over to Daniel during this time. Seongwoo threw a brief glance over them, noting the thinly veiled concern in Guanlin’s eyes and the outright worry displayed in Jihoon’s furrowed brow and deep frown.

“Niel-ah, I’m just gonna go grab you some more painkillers real quick, okay?” Seongwoo said gently. He didn’t wait for an answer before heading towards his bag, aware that the others would be quick to help if anything happened to Daniel in the short time he was away.

Seongwoo didn’t take long to locate where he had previously left the painkillers. He grabbed his water bottle with his other hand and quickly headed back to where Daniel was resting. Kneeling down, he popped out two pills and placed them in Daniel’s hand. Then, he opened up his bottle and handed it to Daniel.

Daniel groaned but managed to swallow down the pills with a gulp of water. When he made to put down the bottle after swallowing the painkillers, Seongwoo made him take two more gulps. After that, Daniel’s head lolled to the side as he leaned more of his weight back against the wall, his expression contorted with pain. He closed his eyes, sinking himself back into darkness, wishing the pain would just vanish into the black void, too.

“Manager’s on the way,” Jisung announced as he walked back towards them. “Did he take more painkillers?”

Seongwoo’s only answer was a nod; his mind was a little too full of worry for Daniel and how much pain he seemed to be in. He knew Daniel had been overworked – both by himself and their company, but he hadn’t known it was to this extent of bad. He had thought that Daniel was fine – he was certainly happy, never complaining about all the hours he worked or how little he got to sleep. It was only dawning on Seongwoo now the realisation that Daniel had a self-destructive habit and he just felt so _guilty_ for not noticing earlier.

“Hey.” Jisung’s voice interrupted his thoughts and his hand came to rest upon Seongwoo’s shoulder. “I know that look. Don’t blame yourself for Niel’s condition – it’s not something you could have seen coming. Heck, even _I_ didn’t notice, and I’ve known him for much, much longer. Daniel’s a good kid, but he tends to hide away everything he has difficulty with because he only wants to portray a good image, and most of the times it comes to bite him in the ass, but he keeps doing it anyway.” Jisung paused here to sigh.

There was a moment of silence. Then, Jisung turned to look Seongwoo directly in the eyes. “With you, though, he seems to let down his guard. I don’t want to give you a burden or anything but please do me a favour? If he comes to you about something, it’s probably something he won’t tell anyone else, so please listen to him, and help him out if you can.”

“Hyung, you know Daniel could never be a burden to me, right? He’s… He’s my friend, my _best_ friend,” Seongwoo stopped suddenly, and the words he didn’t say out crossed his mind anyway.

_And I love him._

Jisung looked at him a few moments more, like he could see the entirety of Seongwoo’s soul from looking into his eyes. Then, he smiled, almost like he knew what Seongwoo’s brain had echoed.

“Thank you.”

Soon enough, the manager arrived at their studio, and he came rushing into their room. Spotting Daniel, Jisung, and Seongwoo by the wall, he quickly went over to them and crouched down. Jisung started relaying the situation to him, with Seongwoo interjecting at parts he was unsure of. The manager listened attentively and sighed once they had finished. “I can bring him back to the dorm, but I think one of you should go along with him to keep an eye.”

“I’ll come with you,” Seongwoo volunteered immediately, casting another worried look at Daniel, who appeared to have dozed off. “I can look after him.”

“Okay Seongwoo, come help me lift him to the car; it’s at the back, where the sasaengs can’t get in.”

Seongwoo went over to lift up one of Daniel’s arms, bringing it up over his shoulders, and the manager lifted his other side. Together, they managed to get Daniel into the car. Seongwoo slipped into the seat next to Daniel, angling Daniel to lie his head down on Seongwoo’s shoulder. The manager got into the driver’s seat, reminded Seongwoo to get his and Daniel’s seatbelt on, and then they were off.

Seongwoo couldn’t stop himself from thinking about Daniel the whole ride. Halfway through, he somehow managed to intertwine his fingers with Daniel’s and he just stayed staring at their interlocked fingers the rest of the way.

Truth be told, he was a little scared of the tiny (okay, not really tiny – it was HUGE) realisation he had had earlier. The 3 words his mind had thought unconsciously, instinctively. That he loves Daniel. And he knows, it’s not a friendship kind of love. It went much, much further, deeper, way past the boundary of platonic love.

And it scared him. Not just a little bit. A whole lot. It scared Seongwoo more than the thoughts he had during Produce 101. A lot more. Because it was so _real_ and _raw_ and it hurt even thinking about the most likely outcome of this.

Next to him, Daniel sniffed quietly. It was enough to draw Seongwoo out of his thoughts, though. He squeezed Daniel’s hand, wishing he could somehow take away some of the pain. And he made a promise to himself: he was not going to dwell and wallow in his own misery. Not now. Not when Daniel needed him. He was going to do whatever he could to make him feel better. And then, maybe then, he could confront his own feelings for Daniel and come to a decision.

For now, though, he needed to take care of his best friend.

**Author's Note:**

> as always, my fic is shit, but maybe it's your type of shit x)
> 
> if you liked this fic, please leave a kudos and/or a comment.  
> if you didn't, let me know what you didn't like?
> 
> to my girls who have been with me for a year, i love yall. here's to many more <3
> 
> twitter - @takeherhoume  
> cc - ongandkang  
> 


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